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White House used Bill Clinton to get Sestak out of senate race

The White House confirms that it used former President Bill Clinton as an intermediary to discourage Rep. Joe Sestak's Democratic primary challenge in the Pennsylvania Senate race.

A White House official familiar with the matter says Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel used Clinton as a go-between to ask Sestak to drop out of the race against Republican-turned-Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter. The official said Clinton discussed some type of executive branch service for Sestak that would allow him to continue serving in the House.

Sestak said no to the offer, stayed in the race and defeated Specter in a primary earlier this month.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak ahead of the White House's official response to the issue.